Dr. Paul Craig Roberts says 'In my opinion Vanessa Baraitser is not acting like a judge serving law and justice. In my opinion she is acting for Washington, perhaps in exchange for a bagfull of money. This is my opinion, because Vanessa Baraitser has shown, in my opinion, every indication, law and evidence not withstanding, that she intends to turn Julian Assange over to Washington on false charges. Her rulings are inexplicable in terms of serving justice.' We agree.
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DAY ONE OF ASSANGE HEARING: Dramatic Opening Day; First Witness Testifies After Judge Denies Adjournment to January
Consortium News: The dramatic opening day of Assange’s extradition hearing saw U.S. shift from espionage to its superseding indictment as Vanessa Baraitser rejected a defense bid to excise the evidence and adjourn the case to January.
11:30 am EDT: The dramatic first day of the resumption of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing has ended, with technical problems cutting short the testimony of the first defense witness, Broadcast Journalism Professor Mark Feldstein.
Feldstein’s written testimony has been released to the public. On the virtual “stand”–online because of the pandemic–Feldstein was questioned by the defense. He testified that it was a daily occurrence for the press to publish classified information; that he did not expect publishers to be prosecuted for this because the First Amendment protects publishers, allowing them to expose the inner workings of government that citizens have a right to know.